Speedway: Loveridge caps off celebratory season

Hawke's Bay's Quinn Ryan crashes out of the East Coast Superstock Championship at Meeanee on Saturday night. Photo/Glenn Taylor

Hawke's Bay stockcar driver Brett Loveridge expects to be targeted big time next summer.

"In fact I was expecting it all weekend and while I got a little bit of attention it was nothing too major," Loveridge said after he completed a memorable double at Hauraki Meeanee Speedway on Saturday night.

A night after winning the 27-car Stevo's Tyres Kuru Cup Classic, Loveridge won the East Coast Championship by three points from Hawke's Bay clubmate Grant Hollyman.

These titles are two of five Loveridge, an auto electrician with Ansin & Monteith in Hastings, has won this summer.

Considering he had earlier won the Hawke's Bay championship, the Gisborne Classic and Huntly Speedfest titles and a key member of the Meeanee Maulers team, who won the Peter Barry Memorial Teams event for the first time, the lack of attention he received was a surprise.

"I'll lap up the attention when it comes next summer. While it's been a season to remember it was still far from perfect," Loveridge said referring to a bad run at the New Zealand Grand Prix in Wanganui and missing out on qualifying by one point at the New Zealand Championship.

"But I'm sure it will be another late night of celebrations," he added before joining the crowd at the prizegiving.

While Loveridge may not have taken the hits fans expected, there was no shortage of entertainment in the stockcar class over the two nights. Heat three on Friday night saw Hawke's Bay's Dave Persen shoved up the wall, Hawke's Bay-based Palmerston North-contracted Aaron Iremonger roll Mauler Jeff Hart and James Tollison put fellow Bay driver Nick Powell up the wall.

One of Loveridge's heat wins on Friday night came despite the fact he started from near the back of the field.

Hawke's Bay's national TQ champion, Duane Todd, was on target for a double similar to Loveridge's. Todd won the Hawke's Bay Championship on Friday and finished second to his cousin and two-time national champion Craig Todd in Saturday's East Coast Championship.

Hawke's Bay's Thomas Stanaway won the East Coast Superstock Championship on Saturday night by three points from clubmate Tony Meechan. Fellow Bay driver Quinn Ryan, who finished second to Palmerston North's Jack Miers in the 27-car Autumn Nationals the previous night, was taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital with a fractured vertebra after crashing in one of the early heats on Saturday night.

One of the highlights in the final heat saw experienced Hawke's Bay Hawkeye Steve Jude roll clubmate Quentin Butcher. The previous night, Jude put Butcher up the wall.

New Zealand Super Saloon champion Mark Osborne of Canterbury wowed the crowd with his spectacular driving both nights. On Friday night he won the Hawke's Bay championship and on Saturday night finished third in the East Coast championship behind Hawke's Bay's Flynn brothers, Steve and Grant, who were first and second respectively.

Other Hawke's Bay competitors to win titles at the weekend included Dave Black and swinger Cole Petterson who won the East Coast sidecar championship and Sam Warner who took home the East Coast Ministock Championship which was sponsored by his father Shane's engineering business.

Hawke's Bay streetstock driver David Adams took home the Pam Gibson Memorial Trophy after providing the best entertainment in his class.

He rolled himself in Saturday night's third heat but recovered to continue and complete the race.